I just read "First, Body" by Melanie Rae Thon in the Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction 1999

Wow! Amazing story in a somewhat different style - a bit surreal, a bit stream of consciousness but definitely plotted and excellently written. I was so impressed I went looking and found another of her stories

Letters in the Snow - Melanie Rae Thon in the 2006 O Henry Award Stories! and it was similar in that it was certainly excellent work from an even more personal narration perspective. I will definitely be looking for more from her.

Another story I'm still infatuated with after reading multiple times over the past few months is "The Prophet from Jupiter" by Tony Earley (from the same Scribner's collection)

I recently read "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson. An odd story but I really liked it.
It won the 1991 Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Theodore Sturgeon Award, SF Chronicle Reader Award, Locus Award and Asimov’s Reader Award. The story is just what it says in the title.

I also read Bisson's The Left Left Behind which satirizes the Left Behind books and postulates that the world might possibly be a better place after the Rapture.

One of my favorites is one that has been passed around online, but I think the author's name was lost along the line- because now it simply states by 'anonymous'. The title is: The Soldier's Second Letter. It's one of the most bittersweet, yet honest modern tales I have ever read.